UFO: AfterZero
by chimeraguard
Summary: Eleven Years after the Reticulan War, the space station Laputa Two vanishes into a portal. When they emerge, they find themselves in a world filled with magic, nobles, and civil war. Crossover with UFO Aftermath
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello everybody! My mind has temporarily gone blank on what to do for my next chapter of Just One More Time. I will return to it as soon as I think something up. In the meantime, I will be making a new fanfic.**

**I am a big fan of the game UFO: Aftermath, where Greys known as Reticulans wipe out 80% of humanity, leaving you to command the survivors to seek revenge. During the game, the Reticulans will spread a substance called Biomass across Earth's surface, and you must find a way to counter it. The gam had two endings. The canon one was where you accepted a Reticulan offer to evacuate humanity aboard space stations, while others were shipped in cryo to Mars. This fanfic will follow the non-canon ending, where humanity refuses, stops the Biomass, and defeats the Reticulans, eventually conquering their Moon Base. **

**Please see Tvtropes: UFO Afterblank for a better description.**

**For now, on with this crossover of Familiar of Zero, and UFO Aftermath!**

* * *

**May 24th, 2015**

**Laputa Two Station**

**In orbit above Earth**

Eleven Years.

It had been eleven years since the Fall, eleven years since four fifths of humanity had died, eleven years since humanity had united, and retaken Earth.

Rebuilding had been painful, transgenants continued to plague the lands between Commonwealth held territory. Everyone had lost someone in the Fall, most had lost everything, and most of Earth still lay in ruins.

But humanity endured. They rebuilt city after city, hydroponics farms produced food for the survivors, and captured Reticulan technology was reverse-engineered at an unbelievable pace. The Reticulan Settlement on Earth had been rebuilt, and fear and distrust of its inhabitants had vanished.

And then there was the Orion.

Station Commander Gereld smiled as he thought about Humanity's first military spaceship. The Orion had been made not only to protect, but also to mine. Right now it was stationed in the asteroid belt, bringing back the materials needed to expand the Commonwealth's reach into the stars.

A voice snapped him back to reality.

"Commander, we're picking up an anomaly above the British Isles, HighComm wants up to investigate." Sensors Officer Julia Bradsworth reported

Gereld nodded. "Helm?"

"I'm on it sir."

An hour later they had arrived.

"Julia, report." Gereld requested.

"No sign of anything abnormal- wait, I've got something, right on top of us."

Then all hell broke loose.

A massive green portal emerged next to Laputa Two and began sucking the station in.

Gerald grasped a handrail to avoid falling. "Helm, get us out of here!"

"Can't sir! Controls are not responding!"

Gereld swore and opened up communications. "HighComm this is Laputa Two, we've got some kind of Portal, a-and it's sucking us in! Helm is not responding, will try to contact when we ca-"

Then the station vanished into the portal, leaving no sign that it had ever existed.

"Laputa Two do you Copy? Laputa Two please respond!"

* * *

**A/N: Bet no one's ever teleported a whole space station to Halkgenia before! This is just the prologue, I'll try to have the first real chapter up soon.**

**Please review, as always**


	2. A Different World

**A/N: Just some details for those unfamiliar with the UFO series.**

**The Laputa was a space station that the Reticulans (well actually, a Reticulan splinter cult but that's a long story) brought with them to Earth. There were two of them used to monitor the Biomass spreading across Earth. In the sequel, UFO Aftershock, your base is the Laputa station, since it was given to Humanity in return for our surrender. Of course, in this universe, we just took it from them.**

* * *

**Laputa Two**

**Location: Unknown**

**Time: Unknown**

Gereld nearly collapsed as Laputa Two stopped moving. "Status Report!" he called.

"Engineering's fine sir!"

"Helm is still here!"

"Sensors are ok!"

"This is Phoenix Company, we've taken some hits but we're still combat ready."

One by one the crew of the Laputa reported in.

"Julia, where the hell are we?"

"Unknown sir, we're not in Sol anymore, that's for sure. No ships or comm signatures, human or alien. We're in orbit around the second planet from this system's sun. We've also got two moons orbiting the planet. I'll need to do a more thorough scan to get anything more detailed."

Gerald rubbed the back of his head. "Do it, get everyone to check everything on the Laputa. I want a staff meeting in an hour.

* * *

**One Hour Later**

**Laputa Command and Control Center**

Gereld looked at the assembled staff.

"Alright, Julia, tell us what the sensors say."

"Scans show that we appear to be in the Epsilon Eridani system, approximately 10.5 light years from Earth. Scans also show human civilization down on the planet."

"Human Civilization?" Major Malcolm Jorston of Phoenix Company frowned. "Where are they on the tech scale?"

"Mostly Medieval Age from what we can tell, though we can't be completely certain until we sent a team down for a closer look. Interestingly, the Geography of the planet closely resembles that of Earth. However, we have only been able to get scans of a Europe-like continent for now. The strange thing is that what would normally be Great Britan appear to be... floating in midair."

There was silence.

"You're shitting me." The major said, baffled.

"I'm afraid not, we're not sure exactly how this is happening. Again, closer and more detailed scans will be needed to understand anything about what's happening down there."

"Alright then, Dales, how are we doing on supplies?"

The logistics officer responded immediately. "We've got enough food for six months, but the hydroponics farms haven't been repaired yet. We'll need another source of food after those six months, or we die."

Gereld sighed. "Well that's better than I hoped, what about weapons and ships?"

Dales smirked. "Now _there_ we're golden. We've got enough guns and ammo. for several companies, mostly M8s and Kalishnovs. We've got plenty of Reticulan lasers and plasma guns, as well as our own. And of course, we've got Warp Resonators and enough med kits for everyone."

"As for ships, all the slaver devices are functional. We've got 3 drop-balls, 24 Reticulan fighters, four mobiles labs, and a battleship. Oh, and three OLBMs."

Everyone gawked and the young man. OLBMs, or Orbital Launched Ballistic Missiles were missiles with a plasma charged/fusion warhead with a 30 Megaton Yield designed to survive atmospheric reentry. They were Weapons of Mass Destruction.

And the Laputa had three of them

The station commander swallowed. "Well, at least we've got a last resort. Still, we need better information, especially on that floating island. Malcolm, assemble Phoenix Company and deploy to the surface of that island. Gather intelligence on the local political situation, terrain, environment, etcetera. Julia, work on expanding the sensor net to cover the whole planet. Dales, get rationing started, we don't know how long we're going to be here. Elizabeth?"

The chief science officer straightened. "Sir?"

"Get teams investigating both of the moons. And figure out how we got here, and more importantly, how can we get back to Earth."

* * *

**Laputa Two Hangar**

**1 hour and 20 minutes after the Event.**

Major Malcolm Jorston looked up from his plasma rife as a teenager approached him, he remembered that he was Phoenix Company's newest recruit. The young man gave a sharp salute.

"Sir! Private James Ellys reporting for duty sir!"

Malcolm smirked at the private's stiff posture. "At ease private, you a lost*?"

"Yes sir! I was five when when the Fall happened sir. Military's my life."

Malcolm sighed. "Alright then, we move out in ten, get your gear, you'll be covering Zakhaev, our sniper. Oh, and private?"

"Sir?"

"You can drop the formalities, just call me Malcolm, we're all Phoenix Company here."

"Yes si- I mean Malcolm."

Malcolm grinned. "Now you're learning."

* * *

**Unknown planet**

**On floating island**

**Late Afternoon**

The three drop ships touched down in a heavily forested region with a village on the outskirts and quickly disgorged their cargo. Nineteen humans and two Reticulans quickly secured a perimeter. Deeming the immediate area secure. Malcolm began to issue orders.

"Alright, Rico, your squad stays behind to cover the transports, contact us if anyone comes close. Brian, second squad is with us, we're heading to that village we saw on the way down. Remember, we're in unknown territory, so do not, I repeat, _do not_ fire unless attacked first. Intel says these people are in the Medieval Age, so try to behave."

Malcolm looked at his own squad.

He personally was carrying an Enhanced Plasma Rifle, along with grenades and a Warp Medkit.

Betty, the team's heavy weapons specialist, was carrying a Double-barreled machine gun.

Saud had a Super Striker, an MP7, grenades of all types, and a Warp Demolition Device.

Kinsey had a new M8 rifle with a grenade launcher, and was carrying two Warp Medkits, compared to everyone else's one.

Lionel wielded an HK CAWS and an MP7 as a backup weapon.

Zakhaev, the team's sniper, toted an M82 Barrett Sniper rifle, with a laser pistol as backup.

And finally, James Ellys was carrying one of the new laser sniper rifles, and spare ammunition for everyone.

Malcolm smiled at the members of Phoenix Company, both new and old.

"Phoenix Company, move out!

* * *

**Near unknown Village**

They had almost arrived when a gout of flams burst up from where the village was.

"Ah, shit, that can't be good." Malcolm muttered. "Double time it everyone! Snipers, get into over watch positions!"

The fourteen soldiers ran as fast as their legs could carry them, quickly arriving at the outskirts. Brian, the commander of Second Squad, took out a pair of binoculars and took a look at the settlement while everyone else got into firing positions.

He gawked.

"What do you see Brian?" Malcolm asked.

"Take a look for yourself." Brian replied, handing hi the binoculars.

Malcolm looked at the village.

It was rather small, probably no more than 400 or so people in total. However, that wasn't what concerned him.

What concerned him was that the village was being looted by a group o forty or so soldiers with swords, spears, and bows.

And oh, maybe the fact that there were five robed men on horses setting fire to everything with honest-to-god magic wands was a bit of a concern to.

"Orders sir?" Brian asked.

Malcolm hesitated, he had been ordered to recon, nothing more. He didn't even know who was the good guy in this situation. For all he knew the soldiers could be burning down a bandit settlement.

"Sir, I have a shot on everyone who's armed."

Malcolm still stalled.

Then he saw a little girl being dragged out of a house to the lead rider, a grin on the mans face."

"Ah, fuck it." He muttered. "Open Fire! Shoot to kill!"

* * *

**Holdat Village**

Jorathon Kellam was a Noble. Not a very high ranking one in the Reconquista, but still a Noble.

Which put him far above the commoners who thought they could go about refusing to pay, feed, and house his soldiers.

He smiled as one of the younger girls was dragged in front of him. This was a nice way to lighten up a boring day-

At that moment a .50 BMG round ripped through his head, while still maintaining the velocity to kill the captain beside him.

At the same time, a beam of light shot out and struck down the mercenary carrying the young girl, who took advantage of the confusion to hide.

Confusion that was increased when a dozen men and women with strange weapons ad armor burst out of hiding, shooting as they came.

* * *

The First and Second Squads charged into the village, Malcolm fired his plasma rifle into one of the wand wielders, melting him to goo.

Betty's Double-barrels roared and scythed through the group of swordsmen. One of the surviving mage hurled a fireball at her, which failed to do more than scorch the paint of her Power Armor. A pair of spearmen charged out of a nearby house and were cut down by a pair of CAWS shots.

A Flash bang burst in the middle of a squad of archers, blinding them ad making them easy targets.

And all the while sniper fire shot anyone who tried to organize resistance.

In just a few minutes the entire village was clear. Malcolm looked around and realized that most of the village had come out and were staring at Phoenix Company in awe.

"Umm... hi?" Malcolm asked awkwardly. "We saw the fire an came to help. Can you tell us where we are? We're kinda lost."

* * *

**A few hours and a long explanation later...**

Malcolm went over the village elder's description of the World.

They were on the continent of Halkgenia, which was currently split between five nations: Tristain, Germania, Romalia, Gallia, and Albion, which was the Island.

The land was ruled by magic using nobles, who, being human, had some good people but also plenty of bad ones, like the Albion Reconquista, who had killed of the entire Royal Family of Albion in a civil war an were planning to invade Halkgenia, starting with the nation of Tristain.

Of course, the Reconquista had hired large amounts of mercenaries to do their dirty work, and were allowing them free reign in many villages.

Which led to here, when a squad of mercenaries had tried to loot the village and drag off some of the younger girls, the woodcutters objected.

With axes.

That had provoked the minor noble who had hired this band of mercs to come here to burn the village down, resulting in his death by sniper fire.

There was one thing he didn't understand though.

"Why don't you fight back, you were able to kill off that first group easily enough." Malcolm asked.

The elder sighed. "We're not soldiers, sir, the mercenaries and the nobles have training, they have weapons, and they have magic, those three things we lack."

Brian grinned. "What if we could provide you with two of those things?" He asked.

The elder looked at the younger man and crossed his arms. "What precisely are you implying."

"Look, you saw what are weapons did to this group of nobles, their magic didn't help one bit. We can make other weapons to, maybe not as good, but still powerful enough to take down anything this Reconquista can send at us." Malcolm said.

"And what would you gain from this?" The elder replied, raising his eyebrows. "You would hardly provide us with these weapons for free."

"We told you, we have no idea where we are, if w help you, we gain allies who will respect and work with us, rather than look down on us if we're commoners. Beside, I'll bet plenty of other villages would be happy to join if we could give them the means to resist Mr, ah.."

"Jereth, my name is Jereth." The elder said, considering the man's words.

It was true, everyone was sick of scrounging up roots to survive while nobles dinned on what they wanted. Jereth wasn't naïve enough to believe that everything would change instantly.

But if his grandchildren and their children could walk without fear of being victim of a noble's whims, it just might be worth the cost in blood.

Jereth smiled. "Alright, you've convinced me, and more importantly, you've convinced them." He motioned to the hundreds of villagers behind him.

He raised his voice. "Today, a new era dawns, an era where we, the commoners, take our place as human equal to the nobility, and as leaders of Albion!"

A resounding cheer went up from the crowd, axes, farming implements, and hunting bows wee raised.

Brian looked at his friend. "Well sir, I do believe we've just started a revolution."

Malcolm chuckled. "That we have buddy, that we have..."

* * *

**Laputa Two **

Gereld stared dumbly ahead as he heard Malcolm's report.

So..." He said calmly, "You jut shot up a gang of mercs trying to pillage a village, and in the process you somehow managed to start an American Revolution in this world's equivalent of Great Britain?"

"That's about it sir, not bad for a days work." Malcolm nodded cheerfully.

Gereld sighed. "Only you Malcolm, only you..."

* * *

**A/N: Right, standard rescue village and start revolution sequence complete, now for the interesting stuff.**

**I actually had a Russian sniper on my team named Zakhaev, no joke.**

**Laputa Two Inhabitants:**

**2500 crew**

**250 Astroguards (Space Marines)**

**21 members of Phoenix Company**

**30 Reticulans**

**100 Scientists**

**75 Engineers**

**Please review, and questions and constructive criticism are always welcome!**


	3. Up and Armed

**A/N: Glad to see people like this story, I'm only fifteen so any ideas on weapons that the Albion Commoner's Alliance (ACA) can produce would be appreciated.**

* * *

**Chapter Two: Up and Armed**

* * *

**Two days after encounter**

**Holdat Village**

**Unofficial headquarters of the Albion Commoner's Alliance**

Things has proceeded quickly after the Revolution began. The shuttles had ferried a full company of Astroguards to begin training the villagers in warfare.

Meanwhile, messages had been sent to every village in the region asking them to join. Most accepted eagerly upon hearing about the defeat of the raiding party. The Reconquista was bad, but nobles had been terrorizing peasants in Albion for as long as anyone could remember, with the King having less power than the nobles he allegedly ruled. With a real chance to fight back and win, all but a few joined the newly formed Alliance, and those that didn't were simply waiting for a large victory before they pitched in.

For now though, in over two dozen villages, many of which originally produced weapons for the armies of Albion, smiths churned out weapons, including new rifled muskets, repeating crossbows, small caliber field guns, even a few of the new cartridge rifles and submachine guns, which the new Laputans called SKS's and Stens.

Those who showed special skill in marksmanship were given one of he carefully hoarded modern rifles, and were supplied by the Laputa's small cartridge making industry.

In return for all this, many farms produced food for the Laputans, ensuring that starvation was averted.

And of course, hundreds of young men and women trained until their commanders deemed them ready for the battles that lay ahead.

* * *

"Ready!"

A front rank of twenty militia dropped to their knees.

"Aim!"

Forty men aimed their muskets downrange.

"Fire!"

A cloud of powder enveloped the group, as bullets spewed out and smashed into targets in front of them.

Rico looked at the results in smiled.

"Good, now do it five more times, each one better!"

* * *

The men stared at Betty and the wine barrel-like artillery pieces.

"You sure these ah, 'hwachas' will work."

Betty grinned. "Positive, now light the fuse."

They did as they were told and back away quickly.

A massive volley of meter long arrows hurled themselves at their targets, peppering the entire field.

Everyone stared, several remembered to close their jaws.

Then they looked at Betty.

"What did I tell you? Now reload them."

* * *

Malcolm held a gun and a shovel in his hands and looked at the men and women in front of him.

'Alright, ladies and gentlemen, those who think the gun is the most important tool you have, raise your hands."

With one or two exceptions, everyone raised their hand.

He snorted. "Congratulations, you're all wrong! This," He held up the E-tool. " Is the most important tool a soldier can have."

Someone exclaimed, "A shovel?"

"Yes private, a shovel. A shovel that you can use to dig a trench, fight in melee in a pinch, make a hole to piss in, dig under a wall and collapse it, make a road, cut some branches, throw it at a baddie, or even cook on it! You will all likely use your shovel a hundred times more than you will use your gun. All you can do with a gun is shoot it, but you can use a shovel for ANYTHING!"

"To demonstrate this, you will all use your shovels to dig a trench, and will continue to do so until you can do it quickly and efficiently! Now Begin!"

* * *

For two months the soldiers of the Commoner's Alliance trained. They drilled until they could fight, dig, fortify, attack, defend, and march.

By the end of it all, they were sweaty, they were exhausted, and they were ready.

* * *

**Fort Arinclare**

**Nightime**

Phoenix Company's first squad, accompanied by a company of Alliance soldiers armed with a mix of cartridge rifles and SMGs, repeating crossbows, and a few rifled muskets approached the base stealthily.

The fort was the base of operations for Reconquista forces in the region. Protected by a palisade, it could house over five hundred men. Of course, with the Reconquista preparing for war in the South, the actual garrison was less than half of that.

Which of course, made it the perfect target for the growing rebellion.

Nathaniel, the leader of the First Company of the Alliance, looked at the palisade, then back to Malcolm.

"So, you got a way to deal with the wall?" He asked.

Malcolm just grinned. "Please, just take out the sentries and you'll get your entrance."

Nathaniel nodded, and motioned to the marksmen, armed with high-powered crossbows and a couple of modern sniper rifles.

Bullets and bolts ripped into the sentries as they fell to the ground silently. Phoenix Company quickly moved up to the surface of the palisade. Saud set his Warp Demo Device to the wall and smirked.

Nathaniel blinked.

The palisade was gone. One moment it was there and the next moment it had just... vanished, leaving a massive hole in the fort's defenses.

Then two months of training took over. He raised his SMG and pointed at the breach. "CHARGE!" He roared.

The company roared back and swarmed into the fort, shooting anyone who wore the colors of the Albion army. Sleepy sword and spearmen tried to organize into some sort of fighting formation, but the attack was too sudden, and completely unexpected. Mages died before they could even start to chant their spells, sergeants were shot trying to rally the men, and in less than half an hour the fort had been taken.

The Reconquista lost over 250 men dead, with several dozen more surrendering.

The Alliance only had a half dozen men lightly wounded.

"I think that went rather well." Nathaniel remarked as the commoner soldiers cheered in celebration of the victory.

Malcolm looked at the younger man. "So it did." He remarked. "Might want to send a runner back to base for reinforcements, Reconquista's not gonna take this lying down."

* * *

**Preston**

**Four days after Battle of Fort Arinclare**

Lord Reginald Kellam stared at the messenger in disbelief. "I must be mistaken, I could have sworn you said that the peasants had seized Fort Arinclare."

The young man in front of him, one of the few survivors of the battle, nodded. "Yes my Lord, as you know, your noble son went missing near there two months ago. This humble servant believes that the commoners there have risen up against their betters and murdered him. They are calling themselves the Albion Commoner's Alliance, and they caused a section of the palisade to vanish into thin air!"

Lord Kellam walked up to him and smacked him across the face. "Imbecile!" He roared. "Are you so foolish as to tell me that mere commoners can do this! Perhaps the discipline of your men has failed, perhaps your men let these rebels in and _you_ are to blame..."

The sergeant paled. "No my Lord! Our men were caught by surprise! Every one of us fought them valiantly, but we could not organize in time! I came hear to inform you so that your Greatness could rally a force to crush the vagabonds."

Kellam nodded. "Hmm, very well, I will give you a chance to redeem yourself. Sent word to the Demon hounds and raise a call to arms. I want the army ready in two days time. You shall lead a squad into battle. Should you perform well, all will be forgiven."

"You are most gracious my Lord!" The Sergeant exclaimed, bowing low enough the floor.

"Yes, yes, now go, rally the mercenaries and levies!" As the man raced to do as he was told, Reginald thought about his son. Jorathon had been his only child, and he had doted on him since childhood. When Reginald's wife had died the two had mourned together. And when he was declared a mage of fire and wind, the old man's heart had swelled with pride. The line mage had done him proud during the war against the king. And now he was dead, murdered by rebels and his body likely desecrated.

His face turned into a snarl. The commoners who had done this would pay for this treason.

* * *

**A/N: Guns like the SKS and the Sten could be made in tool sheds, so I think they would be relatively easy for the Alliance to make, but not in very large numbers. Making enough ammo for cartridge weapons is gonna be a problem, so early in the war they will be using manly rifled muskets and crossbows. Crossbows were powerful enough that in real life knight tried to get them banned, and with the Zhuge nu repeating crossbows, the ACA can maintain a great rate of fire.**

**I'm just trying to get names from Wikipedia, so any tips on important towns in Great Britan during the Middle Ages would be appreciated.**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**


	4. Blood and Ironwood

**A/N: Many thanks to Tvtropes' Boring but Practical page, for giving me the SKS and Sten.**

**Since school in starting soon this will be my last post for some time. I'll continue whenever I get the chance**

**By the way, Alliance flag is a Black Dragon facing forward with a musket and farming scythe crossed above it's head with a red background.. Hope you like it**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Blood and Ironwood**

* * *

**Fort Arinclare**

**Six days post-battle**

The victory at Fort Arinclare had been a major boon to the Alliance. Not only did the victory convince the remaining villages in the region to join, but it also gave the revolution a fortified base of operations, a boost in confidence for it's soldiers, and possibly most importantly, several dozen horses.

The horses were quickly put to work pulling carts and wagons loaded with supplies and men, creating a network of convoys throughout the growing revolution's territory. Some carts would deliver food from farms to the miners, who would load them up with metal to send to weapon smiths, who would create weapons and have those same carts deliver them to Fort Arinclare, where they would be given too the new soldiers who had been transported to the fort by other convoys.

Private James Ellys smiled as he saw another convoy pull into the fort, then went back to looking at the scenery. Unlike Earth, with its spore-choked sky, Halkgenia had a clear, blue sky with white clouds with two moons visible in the distance. For most of his life he had been told that Earth had once had a blue sky, that once the land was covered in greenery and wildlife that wasn't trying to kill you, but it was one thing to hear about it and another thing entirely to see a world like that.

Compared to Earth, Halkgenia was paradise.

Provided of course you ignored the lower level of technology, genocidal war between the humans and the elves, other magical creatures with rather aggressive temperaments, and the system that favored the magic-using nobility while common people were left to rot, but still, the land looked nice.

Then Ellys frowned as a messenger bearing Alliance colors running toward the fort .

"That can't be good." Ellys muttered as he moved to alert command.

And he had been getting used to the relative lack of things trying to brutally murder him to.

* * *

**Fort Arinclare Command Post**

**A few minutes later**

Nathaniel nodded at the messenger, a young man from one of the villages closer to the town of Preston, the regional capitol. "You've done well. Get some rest, we might need you later."

"Sir!" He saluted before leaving.

Nathaniel sighed and rubbed his head as he went over the scout's report in his head. Teams had been sent out both to gather new recruits and to keep an eye on the Reconquista. According to this latest report, they were finally making their move.

He turned to Malcolm and Laura, the commander of the fort garrison, both of whom had grim expressions on their faces. Then Malcolm gave them both a grim smile. "Well, at least we know they're coming."

Laura winced and went over the details. "Three thousand men in total." She muttered, eyes focused on the map in front of her. " About sixty mages of various talent, five hundred men from the Demon Hounds mercenary guild, which leaves over twenty four hundred levies armed with spears, swords, bows, and a few matchlocks. ETA is about two and a half days." She sighed. "To counter that, we've got about twelve hundred trained soldiers, with more arriving each day. Still, by the time the Reconquista arrives they'll still outnumber us two-to-one."

Malcolm nodded. "So, how are we doing on weapons?" He asked, concerned.

Laura gave a small grin "_There _we have no problems. We've got maybe a couple hundred cartridge weapons, not including your own, of course, Three companies worth of percussion cap rifles, and plenty of crossbows. We've also got a half dozen field guns, and two dozen Hwachas." The smile disappeared. "Still," she said, face grim. "if those mages get close enough, fireballs, ice shards, and the like will slaughter our firing lines. We can win in a straight up fight, but we'd lose half the army in the process."

Nathaniel looked over the map as he thought about the path the Reconquista would take to get to reach Fort Arinclare. Then he stopped as he looked at the mess of trees on the map.

He smiled. "I've got an idea." The other two looked at him and he quickly explained. "According to the scouts, the Reconquista army will pass through the ironwoods. We all know that forest like the back of our hands. All we need are a few hundred men and we can set up an ambush to wipe out the Reconquista."

It didn't take much effort to convince Malcolm and Laura, and soon the three were organizing men and material for the operation.

* * *

Nara Netsu checked her rifle for the seventh time as she looked around at all the people organizing. She had never seen this many people gathered in one place, but at least she would be moving separate from the bulk of them. Like most hedge wizards, she tended to avoid people as much as she could, and when the call had gone out for volunteers for the Alliance, she had seen it as a way to escape her village. She quickly proved herself to be an excellent hand with a rifle, and had been given one of the carefully hoarded SKS's with a scope, and had been assigned to the army's slowly growing group of commandos, led by the Laputan Zakhaev. Unlike many people in her village, they didn't care about her magic, or mock her because it was, frankly, pathetic. Who knows? Maybe she would actually like being he-

"Hey, Netsu!" A voice interrupted her internal thoughts. She turned around and saw Jonas, one of the other Laputans in the commandos walking towards her. The young man gave a cheerful grin. "Zakhaev says we're moving ahead of the main body, you ready to move out?"

Nara nodded and got up, ready for what was to come.

* * *

Nathaniel stared at the hundreds of men in front of him from his sitting position._ His_ men. All of the people in front of him were counting on him to bring them back home alive. And for some of them, he would fail. It was inevitable, whether in this battle, or the next, or the fifth, people would die, even with the technology advantage the Alliance held, many of the dead would wear Alliance colors.

And he had to go and order them into what would cause those deaths.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Nathaniel looked up and saw the face of Malcolm above him.

He shook his head, thoughts of death still present. "Just thinking about death. You wouldn't want to hear it." Malcolm nodded, his face unusually solemn. Then he started to speak. "I remember being a lot like you when I started fighting. I was scared, frightened, and broken." Nathaniel looked at him, fascinated, he had heard about the Laputan's home world of Earth, but most of them stayed silent about what they termed, 'The Fall'.

Malcolm continued to talk. "We'd lost everything after the Fall, we were angry, hateful, willing to do anything to fight the invaders. I was placed in command of Phoenix Company. At the start, our weapons were junk, whatever we could salvage from gangers, abandoned military bases, and corpses. I still remember at the start squads of men and women going out to fight monsters and creatures with weaponry we thought as futuristic with nothing but Uzis and pistols." He sighed. "Casualties were horrific, I still pity the Air Force, losing entire squadrons just so they could down one wing of fighters, so we could scavenge the wreckage. But we kept moving, I kept moving. We knew that people would die, and we accepted it, we knew that, and so did the ones that died." He looked at Nathaniel, eyes serious. "Never forget the fallen, but these people are here to fight, they know the risks, and they're willing to take them if it means that younger generations can live free. Honor the dead by fighting for what they died for, that's the best advice I can give."

Nathaniel nodded, to be honest, he hadn't understood terms like 'Uzis' and 'Air force' , but he could guess. He looked at Malcolm. "Never took you for a philosopher, sir." He said.

Malcolm gave a smile. "Don't call me sir, and I'm not, just trying to help a better soldier." He looked up. "Let's move, the men are waiting."

* * *

**One Day Later**

**Ironwood Forest**

**Nighttime**

Lord Reginald Kellam had been driving his troops forward ruthlessly. They had been marching for most of the day, and still had a couple hours to go before he would consider stopping for rest. Furthermore, marching through the woods at night, even in the company of three thousand other people, was not good for one's mental well being. Almost at bad was the presence of the Demon Hounds mercenaries, clad in full plate armor and wielding two-handed swords, they considered themselves superior to the rank and file levies, and let them know that all the time.

In general, the average member of the policing force was resentful, tired, hungry, and frightened, all of which explained why they weren't paying attention to their surroundings.

In the shrubs, dirt, mud, and trees, over nine hundred soldiers or the ACA, a half-company of Astroguards, the newly born Albion Commandos, and Phoenix Company waited and prepared to strike, their bodies covered in dirt, mud, and leaves to ensure that they weren't spotted.

Zakhaev looked at the thirty or so Commandos hidden, then nodded to Nara, her blue hair concealed with leaves and mud. "Netsu, light a fire."

Nara Netsu nodded. In general, hedge wizards and witches were commoners with magical potential so pathetic they weren't even worth training. For example, a water hedge wizard might just have enough power to summon enough water to nourish a flower, while one with affinity to wind could summon a stiff breeze. Hated by commoners for their magic, and mocked by wizards for their weakness, hedge wizards were pariahs to both classes, which explained why so many had joined the ACA, the idea of true quality appealed to them greatly.

In response, the ACA welcomed these new additions to the ranks, for whatever the hedge wizards lacked in true magical power, they made up for with skill. They would train to focus their power until their tiny reserves of magic could be used where it was most important, and could strike targets with precision.

Nara concentrated her power, and sent a small ball of fire towards the Reconquista army.

It was a weak fireball, any dot mage in his or her first month of schooling could probably have done better, but its goal wasn't to burn the enemy. The ball sailed forward, then burst into a sparkling, bright, fiery explosion.

Right in front of the horse carry Lord Reginald Kellam.

Frightened by the sudden brightness, the horse reared back, and Kellam, caught by surprise tumbled off as confusion reigned in the column.

That was the signal, as hundreds of men and women struck from hidden positions, firing bolts and bullets, and throwing flares, and more bright-balls to illuminate and blind their targets.

The Demon Hounds struggled to get into some kind of fighting order, but the bulk of the men were in panic. The first shots of the ACA forces had been aimed at the mages, standard bearers, and other leaders. Lord Kellam was shot and killed as he recovered from his fall, not even having time to realize he was under attack. Three quarters of the mages and the leaders of the Demon Hounds suffered the same fate.

Anyone with a bow frantically fired into the forest, but their efforts were confused and disorganized. All of them had been expecting the commoners to hold up in the fort and wait for the Reconquista to attack them, no one had expected an ambush in the middle of the night. Even the lowliest conscript had expected this to be a traditional battle, with standards on both sides and negotiations and chivalry carrying the day. Now, caught out of their element, with most of their leaders dead, and blinded by the constant barrage of flares and bright-balls, most of the men broke and either ran, or threw down their weapons and kneeled in surrender.

Things were not entirely one-sided though, a dot fire mage who managed to survive the initial barrage of sniper fire set loose a fireball into the trees, and incinerated a trio of ACA recruits. A small company of Demon hounds launched a disorganized charge into the forest, and managed to kill or wound several dozen before being wiped out by Laputans armed with projectile and laser weaponry. And a few of the arrows desperately launched by the archers managed to kill or wound some by sheer luck.

But for the most part, the battle was a rout, with the Reconquista's mages and Demon Hounds wiped out to the last man, and the rest either dead, running, or surrendering.

An easy victory that had still cost the ACA over eighty lives.

Later battles would not be won at such a low cost.

But there was still work to do, and Nathaniel rallied the survivors, sent for more men from nearby villages, and went down the road the Reconquista had come from.

* * *

**Two Days later**

**Preston**

Two days later the town watch was greeted to the sight of a small army marching towards the city. One man stepped forward towards the walls and began speaking.

"I am Nathaniel Black of the Albion Commoners Alliance! Your Lord, Reginald Kellam, is dead, his army is in ruins, I ask that you surrender to avoid further bloodshed." He stated.

Several of the lesser nobles of the town protested, they couldn't just surrender to mere commoners, let alone rebels. Nathaniel cut them off.

"I have a dozen cannon right behind me, and an army that wiped out one over three times its size. I have had enough war this past week, but you will either open the gates, or I will knock them down!"

The gates were opened.

* * *

**A/N: Bright-balls are fireballs meant to create a massive flash of light, they were designed to help hedge wizards escape pursuers, a magical flash bang.**

**Hope it was a good chapter, I'll try to have more on the way, even with school**


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